Welcome Cubs Fans!

This blog will discuss the 1980s and the baseball card collecting hobby, with a focus on the Chicago Cubs. Contrary to vintage baseball cards, the majority of modern cards are affordable. The various sets will be considerably simpler to obtain. So, with thousands of cards in between, we'll start with 80 Topps and end with 89 Upper Deck. The apex of this period was represented by the Sandberg Rookie of the Year in 1983.


Friday, December 29, 2023

1987 Topps Coins Cubs Checklist

Number of Cards

48 coins in the 1987 Topps Coins collection included 1 Cubs player.

Size of Cards

Each coin measures approximately 1 1/2" in diameter.

Basic Features

This entertaining set includes a full-color portrait of the athlete along with a scroll at the bottom that lists their position, name, and team. The coin number and a brief biography are printed on the backs. There are coins with silver rims and ones with gold rims.

Chicago Cubs 1987 Topps Coins Checklist

Number Player
41 Ryne Sandberg




1987 Topps Coins Box



1987 Topps Coins Inside Box

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

1987 Topps Major League Leaders Minis Cubs

Number of Cards

77 cards in the 1987 Topps Major League Leaders Minis collection included 1 Cubs player.

Size of Cards

Cards measure approximately 2 5/32" by 3".

Basic Features

The leaders of several statistical categories for the 1986 season are included in this set. The card backs are printed in orange and brown. This includes the player's bio, statistics from the previous year, and a brief description of the categories they led.

Chicago Cubs 1987 Topps Major League Leaders Minis Checklist

Number Player
3 Lee Smith




Checklist



Cello Pack

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

1988 Fleer Classic Miniatures Cubs Checklist

Number of Cards

120 cards in the 1988 Fleer Classic Miniatures collection included 5 Cubs players.

Size of Cards

Smallest cards issued in the 1980's 1 13/16" by 2 9/16"

Basic Features

Compared to the 1988 Fleer standard edition, the 1988 Fleer "Classic Miniatures" set has 120 tiny cards with brand-new player images.

Career-by-year statistics are provided on card backs. Together with eighteen logo stickers, the entire set was packaged was distributed via hobby dealers as a green box set. The set is highlighted by a Mark Grace rookie-year card.

Chicago Cubs 1988 Fleer Classic Miniatures Checklist


Number Player
67 Andre Dawson
68 Mark Grace
69 Jerry Mumphrey
70 Ryne Sandberg
71 Rick Sutcliffe











Logo Stickers






Box


Sunday, December 24, 2023

1989 Topps Stickers and Super Star Backs Cubs Checklist

Number of Cards

386 cards in the 1989 Topps Stickers collection included 16 Cubs players.

Size of Cards

The size of the cards measure approximately 2 3/16" x 3"

Basic Features

Printed in Canada Distributed in one series (#1-326), these stickers feature one and two player cards. The borders are highlighted by colored lines and baseball icons. The stickers are numbered on the lower right. The sticker backs are considered a separate set. Stickers could be applied to the pages of a corresponding album that was sold separately. There are a lot of variables with different backs in this set, so for the master cubs collection, there's a lot of cards to hunt down.

There is also a sticker set that has different backs called Super Star Backs, which features five legendary Cubs players along with numerous fronts that are connected to them.

Chicago Cubs 1989 Super Star Backs Checklist

Number Player
38 Ryne Sandberg
42 Vance Law
43 Shawon Dunston
48 Andre Dawson
52 Rafael Palmeiro

Chicago Cubs 1989 Topps Stickers Checklist

Number Player
5 Andre Dawson
46 Vance Law
47 Rafael Palmeiro
48 Greg Maddux
49 Shawon Dunston
50 Mark Grace
51 Damon Berryhill
52 Rick Sutcliffe
53 Jamie Moyer
54 Andre Dawson
55 Ryne Sandberg
56 Calvin Schiraldi
155 Ryne Sandberg AS
156 Andre Dawson AS
318 Damon Berryhill
324 Mark Grace



Thursday, December 21, 2023

1989 Superstars Ralston Purinia Cubs Checklist

Number of Cards

Ralston Purinia had 12 cards in 1989, one of which was a Cubs player.

Size of Cards

Cards measure approximately 2 1/2" by 3 3/8"

Basic Features

Dog food is the first thing that springs to mind when considering Ralston Purinia. But this time, it's kid-friendly cereal for breakfast. A cereal that was created to mimic the flavor of chocolate chip cookies was called Cookie Crisp. The cereal box had two cards and a mail-in certificate within it, all wrapped in cellophane.

This is one of the better MSA sets, with the word Superstars at the top of the card and the player's name, team, and position beneath the full-color photo. The team logos are absent as usual. Career statistics are displayed on the backs.

Chicago Cubs 1989 Ralston Purinia Checklist

Number Player
2 Andre Dawson




Tuesday, December 19, 2023

1988 Classic Blue & Red Cubs Checklist

Number of Cards

50 cards in the 1988 Classic Blue also 50 cards in the 1988 Classic Red included 4 Cub players.

Size of Cards

The size of the cards are standard-size 2 ½ x 3 ½

Basic Features

Both of these 50-card sets were distributed as part of a trivia board game. The card backs contain several trivia questions (and answers) that are used to play the game. A blue or red border frames the full-color photo of the player. The game, or "travel set," includes a mini board, three game pieces, dice, but no cards. For some reason, most likely because of greed, you had to buy the cards separately.

Let's be honest. Not the most entertaining set out there. The game is a little entertaining, and the triva on the back of the cards is intriguing.

Chicago Cubs 1988 Classic Blue & Red Checklist


Number Player
157 Andre Dawson
169 Ryne Sandberg
216 Andre Dawson
244 Rick Sutcliffe
















Saturday, December 16, 2023

1988 Grenada Baseball Stamps Cubs Checklist

Number of Cards

81 stamps in the 1988 Grenada Baseball Stamps collection including 3 HOF Cub players.

Size of Cards

The size of the stamps are 1 1/2" x 2"

Basic Features

The West Indies island nation of Grenada created nine different stamp panels. Each sheet has nine 30-cent stamps, for a total of 81 individual stamps. These stamps feature active major league stars as well as great retired players. They also had the 1988 Grenada Baseball Stamp Sheet First Day Cover, on which stamps of teams or individual players would be affixed and a postmark put on the cover sheet.

Chicago Cubs 1988 Grenada Baseball Stamps Checklist


Number Player
41 Andre Dawson
49 Ryne Sandberg
64 Ernie Banks











Some of these sheets have a Pete Rose stamp. No price difference, be careful.

Friday, December 15, 2023

1985 O-Pee-Chee Stickers Cubs Checklist

Number of Cards

260 cards in the 1985 O-Pee-Chee Stickers collection with 13 Cub player.

Size of Cards

The size of the stickers measures 2 1/8" x 3"

Basic Features

The 1985 O-Pee-Chee Sticker Made in Italy by Panini has a white border on the corners and a nice photo of the player. The backs have the name and number of the card with advertisements for O-Pee-Chee in French and English. These stickers go into an album, which you can buy separately.

Chicago Cubs 1985 O-Pee-Chee Stickers Checklist


Number Player
12 NL Championships/(Cubs at plate)
34 Ryne Sandberg
35 Rick Sutcliffe
36 Leon Durham
37 Jody Davis
39 Keith Moreland
40 Scott Sanderson
41 Lee Smith
42 Ron Cey
43 Steve Trout
44 Gary Matthews
97 Rick Sutcliffe
175 Ryne Sandberg FOIL
















1985 O-Pee-Chee Alblum